Page 53 of Luna Rising

Winter’s eyes cut to the dresser. “Missy.”

I could practically see the sarcastic ghost sitting on top of the wooden chest of drawers. “How is Charlie? Is he, you know?”

Winter climbed to her feet and waved her hand, turning on all four lamps in the room. She made me wait while she slowly eased her way into a rocking chair by the drawn curtains before saying. “Alive? Laughing? Telling Walter all about the one time he thinks he met a mafia boss?”

I dared to hope. “He’s… okay? I didn’t hurt him?”

“Technically, yes, you did hurt him. Walter healed the bites, but they were already on the mend by the time he reached your house. And Charlie didn’t seem to mind your bite. I mean, I would say that he liked it, but only if you promise not to repeat that to Ewan.”

I winced. “He’s that mad?”

Winter rocked back and forth a few times before she answered. “Let’s go with upset. He, um, asked me to erase the memory from Charlie’s mind.”

I angled my body more toward where she sat, more than a little upset myself. “What did you say?”

“No, obviously. That’s overstepping, even for an alpha. Plus, I, mean, I can’t actually do those kinds of spells. My magic hasn’t come that far along.” She ran her hands down her jeans. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him the last part.”

“Should I be scared?” I asked her.

Winter laughed, not knowing that I wasn’t joking. His rage had seared through our bond. I still felt the ghost of it on my skin. “He’s not upset with you.”

I sucked in air that I didn’t need. “He’s not? How do you know?”

Her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to the side. “Do you not remember what happened?”

“I sank my fangs into the neck of mate’s best friend,” I said pointedly.

“Yes, but do you remember it? Do you remember drinking the blood? Did it not smell funny?”

When I tried, my mind refused to conjure the memory. “Charlie and I were talking in the kitchen. I was drinking the mix Essie made of her magic and Ewan’s blood. We did talk about Angelica. Did I get mad and attack him?”

Winter shook her head. “What about the second the bottle? Ring any bells?”

“No,” I admitted, annoyed that I could remember things that happened centuries before, but not minutes—hours?—prior.

“Don’t force it. I’ll give you the highlights if you like.”

“I do like. Leave out the embarrassing parts, though.” After my dream, I wasn’t sure I could handle anymore humiliation today. I needed to tell Winter about the king’s story, since it did involve her and Archer.

One lost memory at a time, I told myself.

“Someone added a little something extra to several of the blood bottles in the refrigerator. You drank one. That’s why you bit Charlie.”

A cold chill penetrated my bones. My eyes were wide and probably manic looking. “Where’s Ewan?”

“Dealing with that someone.”

I slammed my fist on the mattress, needing to release some of the mounting tension building inside of me. “Who?

“I don’t know. He had Birch bring him some wolf named Kiernan, I think. He was young, like fifteen. Ewan, Charlie, and Walter interrogated him outside. Mom wouldn’t let me go. I didn’t hear any screaming, so I think they just talked to him. They brought him inside afterwards, and he was crying but he didn’t have any, like, marks or anything.”

There were so many people inside my house after the meeting. I remembered seeing a bunch of teenagers but couldn’t recall any single one of them. I shook my head. “I’m still confused. Where is Ewan?”

She twisted her hands in her lap, her discomfort bleeding through our bond into me. “So, when Birch, Charlie, and Walter brought Kiernan inside, Ewan wasn’t with them. Which I found strange since there was an entire debate about whether to bring Kiernan here in the first place or do the interrogation in the clearing in front of the pack. Ewan refused to leave you. That’s how Kiernan ended up here.”

My mind was still a little sluggish, so it took me a minute to process Winter’s words. For me, it was almost stranger that Ewan had gone to deal with the problem at all. Birch should have been the one to go. It was his job.

Had Ewan been so enraged that someone would dare harm his mate that he insisted on going himself? Possibly. Surely, though, his two best friends could’ve made him see reason, and Walter was very convincing.

---